I watched this guy a couple of times last season, but saw him for the first time this year tonight against Missouri. Suh is simply an unstoppable beast at DT. Tonight he had a sack, a forced fumble, an interception, who knows how many tackles, and got pressure on the QB all night long. He is listed as 6'4" and 305 lbs, but he is much quicker than that size would indicate. I will be very surprised if he isn't a top 5 pick in April.

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October 9th, 2009, 12:52 am

Stallion

Play by Play Announcer - Al Michaels

Joined: October 15th, 2005, 12:45 pmPosts: 1834

I may not agree 100% but I imagine this is the guy the FO and Schwartz wants.

_________________2011 Adopted Lion: Rob Sims/Looking for a side job at I.H.O.P because he can't stop making pancakes.

October 9th, 2009, 12:57 am

LionsFan4Life

Fired Head Coach (0-16 record)

Joined: October 30th, 2004, 12:30 pmPosts: 2205Location: Austin, TX

I saw the game and my thoughts were.. how is Texas going to stop this guy from destroying Colt? Yeah, def. the guy we need for DT.

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October 9th, 2009, 7:14 am

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10019Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: DT Ndamukong Suh

slybri19 wrote:

I watched this guy a couple of times last season, but saw him for the first time this year tonight against Missouri. Suh is simply an unstoppable beast at DT. Tonight he had a sack, a forced fumble, an interception, who knows how many tackles, and got pressure on the QB all night long. He is listed as 6'4" and 305 lbs, but he is much quicker than that size would indicate. I will be very surprised if he isn't a top 5 pick in April.

I watched some of the game, and I agree that he had a very strong performance. They were moving him around, putting him inside and outside, stunting him all over. Missouri had nobody along the line that could keep him out of the backfield.

October 9th, 2009, 8:16 am

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 9589Location: Dallas

Stallion wrote:

I may not agree 100% but I imagine this is the guy the FO and Schwartz wants.

The dude was a beast last night. So "beasty" I can now imagine him as a top 3 pick - not sure if the Leos pick that high next year.

Also, we have only had one offseason to judge the FO/Schwartz team so far but from my vantage point their philosophy seems pretty clear - you win with talent on offense and scheme on defense. As result, you may continue to see the Lions use their first round picks on offense (the Pettigrew pick was pretty telling last year) and plug in on defense in FA.

My guess, all other things being equal, a LT would be the logical choice.

If this guy keeps it up and stays healthy, he should definitely be on the Lions' short list. DT is a much bigger need than LT in my opinion, considering it is the weakest position on what is one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The best way to upgrade a defense quickly is to build a strong front four (See Giants, New York).

I may not agree 100% but I imagine this is the guy the FO and Schwartz wants.

The dude was a beast last night. So "beasty" I can now imagine him as a top 3 pick - not sure if the Leos pick that high next year.

Also, we have only had one offseason to judge the FO/Schwartz team so far but from my vantage point their philosophy seems pretty clear - you win with talent on offense and scheme on defense. As result, you may continue to see the Lions use their first round picks on offense (the Pettigrew pick was pretty telling last year) and plug in on defense in FA.

My guess, all other things being equal, a LT would be the logical choice.

I felt they were just going BPA becuase we need talented playmakers.

_________________2011 Adopted Lion: Rob Sims/Looking for a side job at I.H.O.P because he can't stop making pancakes.

October 10th, 2009, 10:04 am

kdsberman

Team MVP

Joined: February 20th, 2007, 10:51 pmPosts: 3419Location: Saginaw, MI

If we have a chance at him, DEFINETLY take him. If we lose out on him...Berry.

BPA is just that, Best Player regardless of position unless its a definite no need position, ala QB since we just drafted Stafford and TE since we just drafted Pettigrew.

And yes, Schwartz has said that its much easier to find defensive players in the later rounds, but I wouldn't bet against them going defense first. LT isn't the most logical choice, because as bad as Backus has been, the offensive line as a whole has been improved, and most of the sacks are coming from the interior line, not Backus (except for yesterday).

Yesterday contradicts what i'm about to say, but the offensive line isn't losing us games right now, the defense is. Sure the lack of being able to run on the best teams in the league right now isn't helping, but being torn apart in the air is our major weakness. We need a few good corners with at least 1 elite one, and we need DL help to put pressure on the opposing QB's so that our secondary isn't under constant pressure. No matter how good the corner is, the longer he has to cover, the advantage is on the receiver.

CB, DT, DE, LT, G, & C are our main needs. You can swap the defensive positions around, but I think the rest of the order is intact.

October 12th, 2009, 1:47 pm

wjb21ndtown

njroar wrote:

BPA is just that, Best Player regardless of position unless its a definite no need position, ala QB since we just drafted Stafford and TE since we just drafted Pettigrew.

And yes, Schwartz has said that its much easier to find defensive players in the later rounds, but I wouldn't bet against them going defense first. LT isn't the most logical choice, because as bad as Backus has been, the offensive line as a whole has been improved, and most of the sacks are coming from the interior line, not Backus (except for yesterday).

Yesterday contradicts what i'm about to say, but the offensive line isn't losing us games right now, the defense is. Sure the lack of being able to run on the best teams in the league right now isn't helping, but being torn apart in the air is our major weakness. We need a few good corners with at least 1 elite one, and we need DL help to put pressure on the opposing QB's so that our secondary isn't under constant pressure. No matter how good the corner is, the longer he has to cover, the advantage is on the receiver.

CB, DT, DE, LT, G, & C are our main needs. You can swap the defensive positions around, but I think the rest of the order is intact.

I don't know that you can say that the OL isn't losing games Njroar. We can't move the ball on the ground for anything, and even when we're not getting sacks we're getting a TON of pressure and BOTH of our Qbs are mobile. If we had more time in the pocket and actually had some sort of consistent running game I think this would be a much improved team, and I do think that its costing us games.

October 12th, 2009, 1:53 pm

njroar

Player of the Year - Offense

Joined: September 25th, 2007, 3:20 amPosts: 2833

Oh, I agree to a degree, but its not consistent like in years past. Stafford has been getting time to throw. And with his quick release, he hasn't needed as much time. Culpepper yesterday caused alot of the sacks, even if many were coverage sacks due to CJ being out and the other 3 receivers not getting open.

We gave up 7 sacks yesterday, but in the previous 4 games, we've given up 10 total. Not great, but on pace to close to 20 fewer than last season's 64 (Think that number's right, not 100% though). 10 is about mid-ranked in the league right now btw. Not great by any stretch, but not the worst like we have been.

We've been able to run against Minnesota and Washington, so not sure what changed besides Ramirez coming in instead of Loper, and Goz being out this week. Could Ramirez be the problem? Is Loper the better run blocker? Loper was out versus Washington though.

As bad as our Oline has been the past few years, I think its playing good enough that its not our main issue. It still needs to be addressed, but its not the main problem area of the team.

October 12th, 2009, 2:55 pm

Murtyle

Mr. Irrelevant

Joined: April 16th, 2005, 3:23 pmPosts: 941Location: Hollywood, FL

By my count Backus gave up 2 against WAS and 2 against the Steelers last week and didn't Alex Brown beat him for a sack as well? Anyone with the time want to go back and get an accurate count? 3.5 sacks seems low to me his guy is constantly around the QB...

By my count Backus gave up 2 against WAS and 2 against the Steelers last week and didn't Alex Brown beat him for a sack as well? Anyone with the time want to go back and get an accurate count? 3.5 sacks seems low to me his guy is constantly around the QB...

yes Backus is getting old and he does get beat... it is time to look for the future....

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October 13th, 2009, 2:30 pm

phunnypharm

#1 Overall Pick

Joined: October 13th, 2005, 10:34 amPosts: 1427

Murtyle wrote:

By my count Backus gave up 2 against WAS and 2 against the Steelers last week and didn't Alex Brown beat him for a sack as well? Anyone with the time want to go back and get an accurate count? 3.5 sacks seems low to me his guy is constantly around the QB...

Hey.... I'm still alive.

James Harrison had 3 sacks against the Lions. Can't recall if all were against Backus.... but he does usually come from that side.

Jared Allen got a sack against Backus.

It seems like Ogunleye might have beat Backus also in the Bears game if I remember right. I know he usually doesn't line up at RDE.... but it sure does seem like Backus had been blown by at least once in that game..

If not.... it is still painfully apparent that he is a swinging door against ANY kind of decent pass rusher. ALSO.......... he gets MUCH easier to cut this offseason in terms of salary.... and he certainly doesn't EARN the cap space he is taking up.

That would make him a "useless waste of space" in my book. I like our U of M guys.... but I always thought he was overrated in the NFL.

Quote:

Also, we have only had one offseason to judge the FO/Schwartz team so far but from my vantage point their philosophy seems pretty clear - you win with talent on offense and scheme on defense. As result, you may continue to see the Lions use their first round picks on offense (the Pettigrew pick was pretty telling last year) and plug in on defense in FA.

I can't say I would draw that conclusion yet.

We all know Stafford was a unique circumstance due to the MONEY involved at #1 overall.

Pettigrew was projected as high as #12 in mock drafts. Only 4 defensive players (Jerry, V. Davis, C. Matthews, Z. Hood) were taken in the next 12 picks before Delmas was selected. Three them are front 7 players that don't fit what Schwartz wants in terms of size, and Davis had major character concerns.

Delmas was defense.

Levy defense.

Williams may be offense... but look at ALL of the defensive players picked after him (but before Sammie Hill).... and there is little to be excited about there. I will say that it maybe looks like we should have taken Mike Wallace (Steelers' pick 2 slots later) instead of DW.

All in all....... the Lions draft is looking REALLY solid at this very early part of the process. Considering that the Lions were terrible on defense and the pressure was on to take defensive players, I hope that they really did stick to a BPA strategy versus drafting Pettigrew to "help" Stafford succeed.

Getting back on topic here, Suh has been steadily rising up the draft boards because of his performance this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon how you look at it), I don't think the Lions will be drafting high enough to get him now. He's almost certain to go in the top 5 (to Tampa Bay is my guess) and I predict the Lions will end up between 7th and 10th.